Participants in a two-day Eastern Partnership summit in Prague have urged
Russia to pull its troops from the Ukrainian border in order to prevent a
further escalation of the conflict. In a joint proclamation they
recommended a decentralization of Ukraine and offered to mediate talks
between the two country’s officials. The meeting of EU representatives
and six post-Soviet republics who are seeking to establish closer political
and economic ties with the EU was dominated by the deepening crisis in
Ukraine. The EU Commissioner for Expansion Štefan Fule told the gathering
the crisis in Ukraine was the worst crisis in Europe since 1945 and a
signal for the EU to give greater support to the EU’s Eastern Partnership
Project. The Eastern Partnership was joined by Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine during the Czech EU presidency in
2009.

Ukraine’s acting foreign minister Andrii Deshchytsia has said Ukraine
wants a diplomatic solution to the crisis but is ready for military action
against Russia should the need arise. Mr. Deshchytsia, who is attending the
EU’s Eastern Partnership summit in Prague, said the Geneva agreement had
paved the way for a solution to the crisis but Russia was further
escalating tension by supporting radicals in eastern Ukraine. He said
Ukrainian security forces had been told to firmly restore order while doing
their utmost to avoid bloodshed.

Czech Army plans for worsening situation in Ukraine

The Czech Army has plans to move up to 1,200 soldiers to the border of the
Czech Republic to help police protect it if the situation in Ukraine
worsens significantly, the newspaper Hospodářské Noviny reported on
Friday. Planned Czech reactions, including protection of key installations
such as nuclear reactors, would amount to the biggest manoeuvres since
2001. Chief of the General Staff Petr Pavel told the paper that a wave of
emigration could be sparked by conflict and problems could also occur with
the large Ukrainian population resident in the Czech Republic. There are no
plans for a direct NATO intervention in Ukraine, he added.

Šumava National Park head sacked

Environment Minister Richard Brabec has dismissed the head of the Šumava
National Park Jiří Mánek in a drawn-out controversy over the future of
the nature reserve. The head of the nature reserve was sacked shortly after
producing a long-term strategy for the park’s development which failed to
respect scientific recommendations for its protection. Mr. Manek himself
had repeatedly come under fire from nature conservationists and environment
activists for allegedly giving way to the ruthless interests of loggers and
developers. A group of Czech scientists recently threatened to take legal
action against the Czech Republic over its alleged failure to adequately
protect the nature reserve.

Police raid Islamic center over anti-Semitic publication

The police’s organized crime squad raided several Prague sites on Friday,
including the headquarters of the Islamic Foundation, a cultural centre
near Wenceslas Square, on suspicion of the illegal publishing and
distribution of a book inciting racism, anti-Semitism and xenophobia, a
spokesman for the organized crime squad said on Friday. One of the raids
took place in the Islamic Foundation’s house of prayer, disrupting the
religious gathering. One of the people present, the first secretary of the
Indonesian Embassy, told the ctk news agency the police stormed the
premises telling people to lie down face of the floor as they searched the
grounds. Five people were arrested. The police did not specify what
publication they were looking for.

Czech defense minister visits Czech contingent in Mali

Czech Defense Minister Martin Stropnický on Friday visited the Czech
contingent in Mali deployed there within the EU military training mission
in the country. The Czech military has 34 soldiers in Bamak and four more
specialists at the military base in Kati. They are helping train the Mali
Armed Forces. The government is expected to decide in the coming days
whether to extend the mission’s mandate and expand the number of troops
to 50.

MP Běhounek will not follow party recommendation

The governor of the Vysočina region and lower house deputy Jiří
Běhounek has said he will ignore a party recommendation for him to give up
one of his posts. Governor Běhounek, an MP for the Social Democrats, said
he had no trouble fulfilling his duties both as MP and governor and argued
that his presence in the lower house made it easier for him to communicate
the region’s needs to colleague MPs and cabinet ministers. The move was
criticized by party leader and Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka who has
fought against the practice of politicians holding several important posts
each of which is time consuming.

Czech president wins 2013 Oil Guzzler Award

Czech President Miloš Zeman was elected winner of the 2013 Oil Guzzler
award, a mock prize established by environmental groups to highlight the
worst anti-environmental stance, decision or project in any given year. Mr.
Zeman received the award for promoting the 380km-long Danube-Oder-Elbe
water corridor project. Critics say that if built, the project would
destroy the remnants of the natural ecosystems of Central Europe and it
would only benefit construction firms. Mr. Zeman discussed the project with
his Austrian counterpart Heinz Fischer at the EU´s Eastern Partnership
summit in Prague on Friday, arguing that it would create thousands of new
jobs and prevent disastrous floods.

Trams re-routed due to maintenance work in city centre

The Prague Transport authority has warned passengers that four tram lines
cutting across Wenceslas Square in the centre of Prague will be re-routed
for a period of two months for maintenance work. The planned fall-out
between Lazarská and Jindřišská streets will come into effect this
Saturday and last until June 28th. People covering this stretch will either
have to use the metro or walk. The scheduled repair work on tram lines is
also expected to complicate car traffic in the city centre.

Lev Praha allow Magnitogorsk to draw KHL finals series

In ice hockey, Lev Praha failed to take a decisive lead in the Kontinental
Hockey League (KHL) finals with defensive errors in the third period
allowing Magnitogorsk to take the match 5:3 and tie the best of seven
series 2:2. The game had been drawn at 3:3 going into the final period. In
spite of late pressure, Lev failed to claw back any goals. The series now
moves to Russia with game five scheduled for Saturday. A Czech record KHL
audience of just over 17,000 watched the match.